ANDREW KOHUT (President, Pew Research Center): Happy to be here, Bob.
ABERNETHY: You polled people in 46 countries and the Palestinian territories. What did you find among Muslims?
Mr. KOHUT: Well, we found some good news -- a big decline in public support for suicide bombing that targets civilians. The percentages are down in just about every Muslim country in which we've been doing surveys, and they're down in a very major way. In Pakistan, they are down to nine percent from 40 percent back in 2003; in Jordan they are down from 57 percent a few years ago to just 25 percent. Now, 25 percent is still a substantial number, as is the case in many Muslim countries, but the evidence is that many Muslims are turning away from this tactic.
ABERNETHY: But not in the Palestinian territories?
Mr. KOHUT: No. Unfortunately, we have 70 percent of Palestinian respondents saying that suicide bombing that targets civilians in defense of Islam can be often, or at least sometimes, justified. That's a very big number.
ABERNETHY: And support for [Osama] bin Laden?
Mr. KOHUT: Support for bin Laden over this five-year period has been trending downward as well. He is still a hero in some places, but to an increasingly small number of people. Again, the major exception [is] in the Palestinian territories.
ABERNETHY: Andy, once upon a time not very long ago it was said that Muslims in general had a very low opinion of U.S. policies, but not of Americans. Is that changing?
Mr. KOHUT: It has changed. There's a really deep dislike of the United States in many Muslim countries that goes beyond our policies and extends to the people, extends to the culture. We have a real problem in the Middle East. We have a real problem in many Muslim countries in Asia, and even some in Africa.
Mr. KOHUT: Mostly mainstream. "Mostly middle class" was our headline. Their incomes match the general population. They have values that are very American. Most believe that with hard work you can get ahead. Many put great stock in assimilating. They think Muslims should be part of the broader culture. Most of them, even though they're immigrants, say their friends are largely not Muslim -- a very sharp contrast to what we see among the Muslim minorities in Western Europe.
